Table 2 Impact of the green shift in taxation: selected international evidence
Country and tax | Period evaluated | Impact | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
Finland—energy and carbon tax | 1990–2005 | CO2 emissions 7 % lower than would have otherwise been a shift from carbon tax to output tax on electricity in 1997 may have lessened impact | Nordic council (2006) Nordic council (1999) |
Norway—carbon and sulphur dioxide taxes | 1991–2007 | 21 % reduction in CO2 from power plants by 1995, 14 % national reduction in CO2 in 1990s, 2 % attributed to carbon tax 12 % reduction in CO2 emissions/unit of GDP | OECD (2001) OECD (2006) Nordic council (2006) |
Denmark—energy and carbon tax | 1992 | CO2 emissions in affected sectors down by 6 % and economic growth up by 20 % between 1988 and 1997 and a 5 % reduction in emission in 1 year in response to tax increase. In 1990s a 23 % reduction in CO2 from as usual trend and energy efficiency increased by 26 % Subsidy to renewable may have accounted for greater proportion of emissions reductions than tax | OECD (2006) Nordic Council (2006) |
Sweden—energy and carbon taxes | 1990–2007 | Emissions reductions of 0.5 million tons per annum Emissions would have been 20 % higher than 1990 levels without tax | Nordic council (2006) Swedish Ministry of Finance (MoF) (2004) |
1999–2007 | Emissions 3.5 % lower than would have otherwise been Low tax rates may have limited impact | Finance ministry, The Netherlands (2007) | |
Germany env tax reform, taxes on transport, fuels and electricity | 1999–2005 | CO2 reduced by 15 % between 1990 and 1999 and 1 % between 1999 and 2005 CO2 emissions 2–3 % lower by 2005 than they would have been without tax German re-unification an important factor in reductions | EEA (2007) OECD (2006) |
UK-industrial energy tax | 2001–2010 | UK CO2 emissions reduced by 2 % in 2002 and 2.25 % in 2003 and cumulative savings of 16.5 million tonnes of carbon up to 2005 Reduction in UK energy demand of 2.9 % estimated by 2010 | Cambridge econometrics (2005) HMT (2006) |
Maharashtra–Tamilnadu State Govt. GT on vehicles | 2005–2010 | Though effect as whole has not been quantified but govt has earned above Rs 300 crore annually and it is constantly increasing | Srivastava and Rao (2010) |